The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) will begin on Friday (March 22) with a glittering opening ceremony at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The IPL 2024 opening ceremony, which begins at 6:30 PM IST, will be followed by the first match between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Cricket fans are waiting with bated breath for MS Dhoni vs Virat's first thrilling match.
MS Dhoni steps down as CSK captain ahead of IPL 2024, Ruturaj Gaikwad announced as replacement
A day before IPL Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed skipper ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Presenting @ChennaiIPL's Captain - @Ruutu1331 ??#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/vt77cWXyBI
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 21, 2024
"MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings' captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of IPL 2024. Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team looks forward to the upcoming season," CSK said in a statement.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT: MS Dhoni hands over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. #WhistlePodu #Yellove
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 21, 2024
Dhoni is expected to retire at the end of the season and therefore the franchise felt the need for a smooth transition in Dhoni's presence as a player, reported PTI on March 21.
Gaikwad was also part of the pre-captain's photoshoot.
Dhoni is the most successful IPL captain with a whopping 133 wins followed by Rohit Sharma at 87.
Fans are upset as Rohit Sharma as captain of Mumbai Indians has been replaced by Hardik Pandya, Rituraj has now replaced Dhoni. And Virat is also not the captain of RCB.
Netizens call it end of an era with Virat, Dhoni and Rohit not captaining for the respective IPL teams. It will be a sight to watch these three battle it out for their
Captain for IPL 2024
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf Du Plessis
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins
Who will perform at the opening ceremony of IPL?
In the opening ceremony, legendary music composer AR Rahman will enthral the fans with his stirring compositions. Singer Sonu Nigam, actor Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar will join him.
